All the Devils' hottest news, from notes to numbers to neutral-zone traps

Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Devils will dress seven defensemen again with forwards Andrei Loktionov and Cam Janssen as the healthy scratches for tonight's game against the Florida Panthers at Prudential Center.

Devils coach Pete DeBoer said again that going with seven defensemen is not ideal, but it worked out fine in Thursday's 1-0 victory over Dallas.

Rookie Eric Gelinas played only 8:49, including just one shift in the third period, but played on the second power play unit and played a role in the game's only goal -- scored by Michael Ryder -- by pinching down from the left point to keep the play alive.

With the extra defenseman, all but Anton Volchenkov played below his season average. Volchenkov was up slightly at 20:28 because he played 4:23 on the penalty kill.

"It worked -- not perfect," DeBoer said. "I think (assistant coach ) Scotty (Stevens) handled the situation well in that he kept everybody in the game. Gelinas, obviously, brought us some help on the power play and some point shots 5-on-5 that we were missing. I think it helped that there were some special teams. We got to kind of slot some guys in. We've got some penalty killing specialists with Volchenkov and (Bryce) Salvador and then some other guys got some power play time. So, it was OK. It's not perfect, but it's OK."

Gelinas had a few long stretches without getting a shift, so remaining alert on the bench was important.

"You have to stay ready, that's for sure," Gelinas said.

***Tonight's game is the finale of a three-game homestand in which the Devils are 1-0-1 so far. They leave after tonight's game for Toronto, where they begin a four-game road trip, so would like to finish off the homestand with a win. That's particularly important with the teams within the Metropolitan Division picking up their play in the last two weeks.

"I think everybody's in the same boat," DeBoer said. "You look around the league and points are so critical. Everyone's jammed together. You win a game and you're right in the middle of the mix again and you lose one and you're on the outside. I'm more worried about our play. We're playing well right now. I've got to believe if we keep doing that we'll get rewarded over the long term."

The Devils know it has the potential to be a tough road trip, though the Leafs have lost their last four games.

"Every game is really important to us," goaltender Martin Broduer said. "It's going to be a big challenge. We're playing some good teams. A team that's struggling in Toronto, you know they're going to come out hard. They felt better about themselves after last game (a 3-2 loss to Washington Friday). Montreal has lost their last few games, so they're going to be ready to go too. Colorado, we haven't seen them yet. They have a pretty good hockey club. And Phoenix, these are teams that we're not used to seeing too much out West. So, it will be a big challenge to get ready for that."

***Cory Schneider will start in net tonight against Tim Thomas for the Panthers. Martin Brodeur said he hadn't heard yet if he'll start Sunday in Toronto. If he does, it will be the first time he plays against good friend David Clarkson, who signed with the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent last summer.

Brodeur, who said he talks on the phone with Clarkson about once a week, did not play in the Devils' 2-1 shootout loss in Toronto on Nov. 8.

"It's not the first time that I'm playing against a good friend of mine," Brodeur said. "I played seven games against (John Madden) in the playoffs (in 2012). It definitely will be weird a little bit, but he's one player that plays 15 minutes, 16 minutes a game. So, it's not crazy. It could be bragging rights big time there."

***Devils' 2013 draft pick Anthony Brodeur's shutout streak reached 194 minutes and 28 seconds before he gave up a power-play goal in the third period of Gatineau's 1-0 loss to Victoriaville Friday night. The streak is the third longest in QMJHL history. Anthony Brodeur stopped 33 of 34 shots in the loss.

"He played really well again," father Martin Brodeur said.

The shutout streak covered two relief appearances and only two starts. Martin Broduer said his longest shutout streak while playing in the QMJHL was around 102 minutes.

"He called me right away to say, 'Hey Dad, I beat you,'" Martin said.

***DeBoer said he's liked what Mike Sislo has given the team in his limited minutes on the fourth line (6:53 per games) in the four games since was called up.

"He's got good speed," DeBoer said. "He's a big body. He's defensively reliable and in the limited minutes we've played him, he's created offense. He's found a way to get loose, win some battles around the net, get loose in open ice. He's had a couple breakaways, so if he can finish off a couple. he'll become a real valuable piece."

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.